*Signed by 50 Basketball Hall of Famers*One-of-a-Kind*Fewer than 2,900 original miles*Ex-John O'Quinn

The Viper SRT-10

The Viper was conceived as a historical take on the classic American sports car. The Viper bears this out with its powerful engine, minimalist straightforward design, muscular and aggressive styling, and high performance.

Originally debuting as a concept in January of 1989, the car soon found its way onto the production line with the first customer cars getting delivered in early 1992. From the start, it was a raw beast. Powered by a massive, 488ci V10 engine that was based on Dodge's truck motor but heavily modified by Lamborghiniwhich at the time was owned by Chrysler. The roadster lacked any electronic nannies such as ABS or traction control, had few creature comforts, no side windows, and no top. But then it was fast, and that is what mattered.

By 1996 the Viper started to get a bit more civilized with such niceties such as side windowspower ones no lessand ABS. In 2002 the first total redesign of the car was released. Powered by an even larger V10 and continuing the model's aggressive styling, this new Viper was much more of a proper, usable caralbeit one that could get to a mile-a-minute in under four seconds and keep on accelerating to 190mph. The leather lined cockpit now had adequate insulation and sound-deadening material to allow for normal conversation, air condition was a regular thing, and all of the electronic features that one would expect on a high performance sportscarincluding traction control and stability controlhad found their way into the Viper.

Still as aggressive as ever, the Viper soldiers on today as an unabashed example of how sportscars are built in Americaby shoving a humongous engine into a little car.

The Motorcar Offered

A Viper, on its own, is a pretty incredible thing. This car had a list price of nearly $90,000 and a bigger engine than any other car on the market. As is, it would do just fine burning rubber and garnering attention. But no, this Viper is a bit different, a bit more unique.

Delivered new in Las Vegas in July of 2006 to Texas attorney and car collector John O'Quinn, it was used as fund raising tool for the Child Safety Network (CSN)an organization whose mission is to reduce the likelihood of children becoming victims of abuse, abduction, exploitation, youth violence and preventable injury. Part of the 'Signature Series' of cars signed by famous individuals and working in conjunction with the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, the Viper received a custom vinyl wrap and went on tour to accumulate signatures of current players and Hall of Famers. First stop was the US National Basketball Team's practice facility in Las Vegas where the car was signed by USA Basketball president Jerry Colangelo followed by LeBron James, Amare Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Chauncey Billups, Jason Kidd, Redd Miller, Tayshaun Prince, Tyson Chandler, Mike Miller, Deron Williams, and Michael Redd Team coach Mike Krzyzewski, and his coaching staff.

The CSN Viper then traveled to Atlanta for the Hall of Fame Class of 2007 Press Conference. It was there that more basketball greats put their mark on the car including Bill Walton, Roy Williams, Dominique Wilkins, Van Chancellor, Bob Cousy, Harry Flournoy, David Lattin, C.M. Newton, Mannie Jackson, Bob Kurland, K.C. Jones, Hubie Brown, and Walt Bellamy. In September it went to the 2007 enshrinement ceremonies in Springfieldfinishing its run with around 50 signatures from some of the greatest names in the sport.

Today the car the car looks virtually as-new with less than 2,900 miles on the odometerfewer than 800 of which have been added since the car was autographed. While there are plenty of Vipers out there to be had, there is only one with the John Hancock's of a few dozen of the most legendary basketball players in history.

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